Podcast: “Choosing a Plastic Surgeon” with Dr. Vickery

Leading NYC plastic surgeon, Dr. Carlin Vickery of 5th Avenue Millennium Aesthetic Surgery explains all of the steps that should go into choosing the right plastic surgeon.

For more information, here are some more videos from Dr. VickeryPodcast #1: "Listening to Patients" by Dr. Carlin Vickery

Transcript

You are listening to Dr. Carlin Vickery from 5th Avenue Millennium Aesthetic Surgery.

Well, first and foremost, again I would like a doctor who is going to take the time to listen to what it is I’m asking for. Before I walked in the door, I certainly would have already checked out that doctor and found out what their training is, where they went to medical school, where they did their training, what their credentials were and where they spent their career. You know, that is a basic first start.

Following that, then the next thing ideally is you would reach out and speak to people within your medical community and ask what their experiences are with that physician, people you trust, not just random people.

Further from that, if you had the opportunity to know people who have actually been operated on and you can see some of the results from what it is that person is interested in and they’re willing to share their results then that certainly is going to give you more information about whether or not this particular physician shares your aesthetic and that’s going to achieve what it is you’re looking for.

So those are the starting points, and sometimes you can glean some information from the Internet. I think every single person that comes in to see me has certainly gone on the Internet and viewed whatever is out there about that doctor. The Internet is unfiltered information, and so you have to take that in mind. It is not absolute, you have to look at it in the totality with all the other information you are looking at.

Any physician that is associated with a major medical school or major hospital is generally somebody with good credentials and they have earned that right to be associated with that institution and that gives you a measure of confidence that you may not have if they’re associated with an unknown institution.

That is really the starting point. I think the next step is when you come in to the office, how the office runs and whether you feel as though the office is taking the time and giving you the opportunity both to speak to them and also to examine you in a way that is a conversation in which you get to express what it is that you want and there is a thoroughness that satisfies you.

There are different aesthetics in plastic surgery. There are certain doctors that are going to appeal to one group and certain doctors that are going to appeal to another group and I think it’s important that there is a good fit, just as with so many other things in life, so that you have the confidence that if you’re going to go ahead and let this person operate on you that you are on the same page and both reaching towards the same goal.

So okay, now you have checked the credentials, you’re happy with that, you have been to the office, you have spoken with the staff, you’ve spoken to the doctor and you feel you’re on the same page, and you’re planning to go ahead with the surgery. Now, at that point, whether the surgery is done in a surgery center or whether the surgery is done in a hospital, you want to be confident that that facility has excellent staff both an anesthesiologist and perioperative care. I think that the combination of nursing staff and anesthesiologist is really going to impact your recovery and so it is important that all of those people are first rate as well because it’s not simply what happens in the operating room, it’s also what happens in that post-operative period and what your follow up is going to be and who you are going to be able to call if you have a question and how often they are going to see you, and if you have a problem how it is going to be taken care of.

So that’s the totality of what goes into surgery, a successful surgery, and achieving a good outcome.Google